I carry a good 'Nightrider' bike light in my jersey back pocket whenever I ride near dusk in case I'm out after dark. I got back from such a ride several weeks ago and found the light was gone; it had apparently 'jumped' out of the pocket. These lights are not cheap [but they do work rather well].

The light I lost was several years old, so my first thought was that it gave me a chance to look into updated technology, at least to a higher lumen led light. After perusing different companies and their wares, I decided it made sense for me to stay with Nightrider, since I had a charging station already set up [I have 2 other Nightrider lights].

Here's the gripe. I received the new higher lumen light, but Nightrider has changed the connector on the charge wire. So, I have to charge that particular light at another location in the house [hard to explain well here, but just take my word].

Such a small thing, but why did they change?

I have a general charging station in my kitchen and there is an abundance of 'different' wires laying about on my counter. I have my cellphone, my camera [several], pad, gopro, remote charger, gps unit, and now the new nightrider light. Heck, even my bike taillights now are chargable [at this station].

SHeese...all the wires!!!

Now, not to be too critical of the electronic industry, cudos must be given for the development of USB connectivity. That 'end' of these wires are all standard now and surely improves our lives from the horridness of all that standards that existed before USB.

But now, electronic guys...how about the OTHER end of the wires as well. Can't you guys come up with something standard there as well, where we, the consumers, don't have to wade through all this spaghetti soup every time we go to charge some unit? Oh, and traveling...like in touring or camping trips of some type...I know I have to carry a whole bag of different wires. Enough already! This is nuts. We need a solution to this quagmire.

Anyway, that's my gripe. Not sure what the cure would be since I believe in free markets and I realize each competitor out there is somehow trying to get an advantage over the others. But Nightrider...why in the world did you change your wiring?
At least keep 'standard' within your own company darn it.

Maybe you should do better research on your purchases?

I have 4 items I charge, and they use two different types of cables plugged into a 4 port USB hub. Tail light and head light charge via mini USB, phone and bluetooth speaker through micro USB. Wasn't that difficult finding options that conformed to these specifications.

Commonly I see one end of USB patch cords use the same plugs, but the other end is different for various devises that are using it.


The answer to Why (?) is Way beyond my pay grade and station in life ..

The computer cable industry enjoys a very hefty profit margin. Sometimes I wish I were in that business. They have a big incentive to change standards often.

They are like bike manufacturers, there are no standards.

Or, as engineers say, the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from!

Ah, engineers, the bane of many a craftsman.

Smart phones tend to be designed for a sleek, thin form factor. micro usb fits that better than mini USB, which is more popular on bulkier electronics like bike headlights, digital cameras, digital video cameras, game controllers etc.

There are USB standards, for both the connectors and the speed designations.

Figuring out the difference is as easy as googling the difference between drop bars and flat bars.

Relevant XKCD:

https://xkcd.com/927/

I was annoyed at apple inventing the lightning port until I had a micro USB port fail on a cellphone

Micro USB beats lightning easily. Lightning is expensive, complicated, and very unreliable.

I hear ya. I'm sick and tired of buying new electronics just because of all the wires, new standards and so on. Small mobile electronics with 6 feet charging cable and a large wall charger just makes no sense. I still have some electronics that takes aaa or aa batteries instead of rechargeable built in batteries. It's so easy to buy them and replace it when needed. What an outdated, but brilliant idea lol